US journalist David Gilkey killed in Afghan ambush

June 6, Kabul: A veteran US photojournalist and a translator have been killed in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, reports said.

David Gilkey of National Public Radio (NPR) and Zabihullah Tamanna were travelling with the Afghan army when they came under fire and their vehicle was hit by a shell, NPR said.

The attack also killed the driver of the vehicle, an Afghan soldier.

The US public radio network said in a statement that two other NPR employees travelling with the pair were unharmed.

NPR said that the vehicle Gilkey, 50, and Tamanna, 38, were travelling in was struck by shellfire near the town of Marjah.

Tamanna was a photographer and journalist in Afghanistan, as well as a translator.

Michael Oreskes, senior vice president at NPR, paid tribute to the photographer.

Gilkey is the first US journalist outside the military to be killed in the conflict in Afghanistan. He received a series of awards during his career, including a 2007 national Emmy for a video series about US Marines from Michigan serving in Iraq, BBC reports.

In 2011, he was named still photographer of the year by the White House Photographers' Association, one of nine first-place awards he received from the body.

His work on an investigation into veteran medical care and his coverage of the Ebola crisis helped secure awards for NPR.

According to reports, he received the Edward R Murrow Award for his coverage of international breaking news, military conflicts and natural disasters in 2015.